it's not really hard. This page is a complete reference to everything a
plugin might want to do. There is also a quick [[tutorial]].
+[[!template type="note" text="""
+Ikiwiki is a compiler
+
+One thing to keep in mind when writing a plugin is that ikiwiki is a wiki
+*compiler*. So plugins influence pages when they are built, not when they
+are loaded. A plugin that inserts the current time into a page, for
+example, will insert the build time. Also, as a compiler, ikiwiki avoids
+rebuilding pages unless they have changed, so a plugin that prints some
+random or changing thing on a page will generate a static page that won't
+change until ikiwiki rebuilds the page for some other reason, like the page
+being edited. The [[tutorial]] has some other examples of ways that ikiwiki
+being a compiler may trip up the unwary.
+"""]]
+
[[!toc levels=2]]
## Types of plugins
explain how to write both sorts of plugins, albeit with an emphasis on perl
plugins.
-## Remember: Ikiwiki is a compiler
-
-One thing to keep in mind when writing a plugin is that ikiwiki is a wiki
-*compiler*. So plugins influence pages when they are built, not when they
-are loaded. A plugin that inserts the current time into a page, for
-example, will insert the build time. Also, as a compiler, ikiwiki avoids
-rebuilding pages unless they have changed, so a plugin that prints some
-random or changing thing on a page will generate a static page that won't
-change until ikiwiki rebuilds the page for some other reason, like the page
-being edited. The [[tutorial]] has some other examples of ways that ikiwiki
-being a compiler may trip up the unwary.
-
## Plugin interface
To import the ikiwiki plugin interface: